Audrey

Question

I live in Utah but grew up on the east coast.  I have noticed that people here quite commonly leave out "to be" when forming sentences.  For example, "My hair needs cut" or "The front door needs fixed".  It seems that I am in the minority here-seems as though this is a very accepted sentence structure!  Did I miss something in english class?!

CalifJim · Accepted Answer

AnonymousDid I miss something in English class?

I don't know. Did you miss the rule that says "My hair needs cut" is wrong? Or the rule that says "The front door needs fixed" is wrong?

I believe the correct word for this phenomenon is "regionalism", so it seems that you have moved from a region where this regionalism is not normal to a region where it is.

The "region" in which this grammatical pattern is accepted as normal seems to be growing every year.

CJ

Dimsumexpress · Answer

I am not sure if you are a native or someone who has lived in the US for a long time. In any case, Proper names do require capitalization, as in East coast and English.

As far as "to be" being left out goes, I don't see your examples: "My hair needs cut" or "The front door needs fixed" a common collocation in this neck of the woods. " I believe " my hair needs [a] cut", or " my hair needs cutting" is the normal collocation. AS for the door " I would say " the front door needs [to be fixed] / fixing". But "...door needs fixed" is grammatically wrong.

Regards · Answer

Hi,

Anonymous"My hair needs cut" or "The front door needs fixed".

Please read the following article. I presume it may help you to answer your own question:

http://grammar.quickanddirtytips.com/needs-washed.aspx

Regards

Audrey

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